A memorial plaque dedicated to former Sandgate Society chairman Geoffrey Edmunds has been returned to Kent after the bench it was attached to was swept away by Storm Goretti and found in Lincolnshire. While the original bench remains in its new home, the plaque is now fixed to a replacement seat on

This story by Danielle M. Crosier was first published in the Bennington Banner on Aug. 28, 2026. SANDGATE — On a late summer morning along the Green River, the scars of Tropical Storm Irene are still visible on the landscape — even if they now appear to look more like “natural” features. High above this Battenkill tributary, a towering slope of loose gravel continues its steady creep, collapsing directly into the river. Locals just call it “the landslide,” but to river scientists and conservationists, it’s a case study in what happens when decades of flood‑control instincts collide with the kind of extreme weather that Vermont has seen since Irene hit 15 years ago. “It really started letting go during Tropical Storm Irene,” said Jim Henderson, environmental program manager with the Bennington County Regional Commission, during a recent site visit. He noted that the storm’s saturated soils set off slope failures “all over the state of Vermont.” Standing at the site of the town office, far away from the base of the slope, Henderson sized it up and put the drop at “close to around 300 feet or so.” Later, Jacob Fetterman, coordinator of Trout Unlimited Battenkill Home Rivers Initiative, checked...